Javier Cortés' Old Master inspired portraits with the EOS R

When Canon Ambassador Javier Cortés was young, he fell in love with the artistry of the Old Masters such as Caravaggio, Velázquez and Rembrandt. The way the classic painters captured light inspired him in his own photorealistic paintings – and then, once he found his true passion, in his photography.

"I started imitating the light of the paintings with the camera," he says. "At the beginning I was just playing, but it has changed all of my work. Now I'm always working on 'narrative' ways of lighting – to tell something more, as the moving image can do, but in just one image." It's a tradition he passes on to photography students in his native Spain, showing them the way he uses one light, often continuous, or natural light, to emulate the lighting of the artists he loved.

Javier's love of light is evident in his portfolio of high-fashion work, which includes stills for Vogue and Esquire and film for brands as diverse as Estée Lauder, Toyota and Swatch. More recently, the photographer stepped away from the traditional restraints of the fashion world to put the Canon EOS R through its paces on a shoot inspired by the Baroque artists.

"I've always wanted to do a personal project with real people, rather than models," he says. "I think that the painters I love have two kinds of paintings – the ones that people paid them to paint, and the ones that they wanted to paint because they thought something was beautiful and they wanted to show it to people.

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"This is what I tried to do in this series: to show different communities and different kinds of women, and to record the details that I saw, from their skin to the strength of their eyes."

Working with street casting agent Charlotte James, the photographer sought out unusual characters who looked different to most fashion models. Aged from 16 to 70, the women include freckled redhead Maisie and tattooed, plus-sized Ami.

"I like the fashion industry but at the same time I don't like some of the stereotypes, so I try always to escape from the 'perfect body' or whatever the focus is on," says Javier. "I shot real people, who are not models and are less confident about posing in front of the camera. This is part of the project, because I wanted it to feel very real."

Fusing high fashion with artistic influences, Javier harnessed light to draw attention to his subjects' features. Against a painterly studio background and a carpet of flowers and foliage, the women pose in a modernist take on the Baroque and Renaissance eras.

"I loved the quality of the EOS R," he says. "With the new RF lenses you feel like you are seeing something from a bigger camera, like a medium format. With these lenses and this [30.3MP] sensor, you can zoom into the picture more and more, and crop it, and you don't see a pixel – it's a really clear image."

Javier found he didn't miss his usual camera, a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, because the EOS R gave him such good results. He says he typically moves quickly around a shoot, while models themselves change position and move. With the EOS R, "the autofocusing was really impressive, and this helped me a lot," he explains.

Thanks to the EOS R's Dual Pixel AF, he was also able to adjust the focus after shooting. "If it's not perfectly matched, you can change it a little bit – if the focus is on the eyes and you want it to be on the nose or the lipstick. If you have what is otherwise the 'perfect shot' and you want to change it slightly, that can work really well."

The EOS R was perfect for Javier's signature low-light style. "This camera was amazing because I love to shoot with limited light, and it can sometimes be difficult for me to focus. I've tested the EOS R in low light, and it was very impressive – always matching the focus with where I wanted it to be."

In further insight into his approach on set, Javier explains: "Sometimes when I shoot portraits, I really appreciate the moment when you are in front of the model and you want to take a picture when the model isn't looking. With this camera, which didn't make a sound, I could take photos that they wouldn't notice, which I loved. I do fashion, but I always try to create a real story. This feature helps them to forget my presence and helps me to go into the story."

Falling in love with mirrorless

Shooting with the EOS R has changed Javier's opinion of mirrorless cameras. "In the past I haven't really liked mirrorless," he admits. "I love to see what's in front of my lens when I'm shooting, not something else, so I didn't like the sensation of feeling like I was looking at something digital when I looked through the viewfinder. With the EOS R it is not like looking into a screen, it's more like looking into real life, with the colours and the light.

"For a lot of my shoots, and my location scouting, it suits me really well. I currently use an EOS 5D Mark IV and an EOS 5DS. I want an EOS R because I think it will be pretty amazing to have in my kitbag for shooting.

"I love the weight of the camera. When I'm filmmaking with the 5D Mark IV I also want to have a camera handy that's light but gives me the same quality, and the EOS R is perfect for that too."

Javier found using the EOS R for this project so rewarding that he says he'd love to do more. "I try to put my personal view into my work with fashion magazines and advertisements, but it's not 'me' like this kind of project," he says. "I would love to continue taking these kinds of images – when I meet people who are really interesting, beautiful, or inspiring for a portrait."

Since Javier worked with the EOS R on this shoot, firmware updates have added additional features that could benefit fashion photographers. These include eye-detection AF that supports Servo AF, to help ensure that subjects’ eyes are clearly in focus even when they’re moving; the ability to use a small AF frame size that supports Servo AF; and the ability to use continuous shooting mode even when you've chosen to use a silent shutter.

Javier Cortés's kitbag

Cameras

This full-frame mirrorless camera opens up new creative opportunities for photographers and filmmakers. "In really low light, it was very impressive, always matching the focus with where I wanted it to be," says Javier.

Lenses

An RF lens that delivers a new kind of optical performance in full-frame photography, with outstanding clarity and sharpness. "I loved the quality," says Javier. "You feel like you are seeing something from a bigger camera, like a medium format."